Many military aircraft are powered by gas turbine engines which ordinarily emit infrared radiation from exposed hot metal parts and from hot exhaust gas plumes thereof whereby such aircraft are particularly vulnerable to missiles which seek and home on such infrared radiation. Further, in military helicopter aircraft powered by gas turbines, suppression of infrared radiation is required under conditions of hover or relatively low flight speeds where ram air is not available for cooling.
Infrared radiation suppressors are known; however, the suppressors proposed heretofore have certain deficiencies in that they either require air pumps, or the like, to provide cooling air at a substantial engine power loss or weight penalty, complex heat transfer panel designs, comparatively large installation space, complex ducting, or additional aircraft mounts to support the weight thereof making such suppressors undesirable in many aircraft applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple and economical apparatus and method for suppressing infrared radiation emitted from hot metal parts at the aft end of a gas turbine engine and from the exhaust gas plume thereof which overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies.